"Over the Cliff" by Crooks and Liars bloggers John Amato and David Neiwert is, so far, a bit of a slog -- it's rehashing a lot of what I know in a dry and judgmental way.

2

People forget that Sean Hannity was informing viewers of Barack Obama's "radical ties" long before Glenn Beck hauled out a chalkboard. Conservative Victory puts Hannity back in the Obama-bashing vanguard.

3

Mark Lilla's "Tea Party Jacobins" is the first meditation on the movement that seems to have struck a chord.

Right Now Archive: Race

A few weeks ago, reporters and pundits were dumping ice water on the narrative that 2010 would be a "year of the black Republican." But last night, South Carolina's Tim Scott was only one of two African-Americans who locked down GOP nominations for Congress. The other, Bill Randall, won a runoff in North Carolina and will face adroit Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.). Miller has faced off against black Republicans in the past, and Randall enters the race most famous for wondering whether government "collusion" led to the BP spill. So this might be a case of a black candidate garnering headlines but acting, effectively, as a sacrificial lamb.

Who is this supposed to appeal to? It's far too patronizing to convince African Americans. I actually caught most of Alvin Greene's interview with Tom Joyner this week, after which Joyner and his hosts grimly discussed how depressing it was to see this buffoon earn the title of "first black U.S. Senate candidate in South Carolina history." Does it convince white conservatives?

You can argue, as Paul does, that we're now so bereft of racism that we don't need to the government to mandate non-discrimination policies. Or you can argue, as liberals do, that government still must play a role prosecuting and preventing discrimination. Any other position is a cop-out.

A little backstory: Phillip is a client of BaseConnect, the GOP direct mail/media firm that occasionally comes into criticism for its fees in the early stages of campaigns. As a black Republican who has never had qualms about attacking Obama, Phillip has been an idea, attention-grabbing BaseConnect client.